


We Were In Screaming Color

by danrdarrenc



Category: Days of Our Lives
Genre: M/M, mentions of Sonny/Paul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 09:01:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11145225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danrdarrenc/pseuds/danrdarrenc
Summary: Soulmate AU: Your soulmates words are etched on your wrist but you don’t see color until they are ready to love you back.





	We Were In Screaming Color

Sonny had had them etched into his wrist for as long as he could remember. 

He knew that it was typical for a person’s soulmate’s first words to them to appear on their wrist at around five years of age; Adrienne had told him that he’d woken up on his fifth birthday, bouncing up and down the stairs because he’d woken up with the words “Yeah. Um.” scribbled on his skin. 

* * *

For the first few years after receiving his Mark, Sonny eagerly listened to every word people said to him; every new person he met sent a jolt through him, hoping that this one might be his soulmate. 

But by the time he turned ten, Sonny had had the words “Yeah. Um.” spoken to him more than a hundred times by more than two dozen different people, men and women alike. To his disappointment, his world remained in black and white and shades of gray. 

“Sonny, baby, you’re only ten,” Adrienne said one night when Sonny told her of his colorless world.

“What’s it like?” Sonny asked, his big brown eyes staring up at his mom.

“What, sweetie?”

“Color?”

Adrienne gave him a soft smile. “It’s beautiful. I promise you’ll see it someday. Don’t rush your life away, baby.”

* * *

By fourteen, Sonny despaired at ever seeing in the world in color. He had at the very least stopped considering the girls whose first words to him were those written on his wrist. He knew by now that he was attracted to boys and that soulmates were directly tied to sexual and romantic attraction.

At fifteen, Sonny made a decision: He would not throw his life away waiting for his soulmate. He’d learned in school that it was possible to fall in love and even live a long happy life with someone other than a soulmate. So pushing thoughts of his soulmate aside, Sonny instead simply sought out a boyfriend.

He knew it would be a difficult task in the don’t-ask-don’t-tell society of Dubai, but his school was fairly Americanized and people were more open than they were elsewhere.

By a stroke of luck, Sonny managed to find someone else like him. His first kiss was a week after his sixteenth birthday, with a cheerleader whom he dated for three months at the beginning of his junior year of high school. He hadn’t been in love but he was grateful he’d had his first kiss and was thankful for the experience. 

Still, he dreamed of meeting his soulmate soon, despite his decision to let it happen when it would happen. He couldn’t help that he was a romantic; he wanted desperately to see the world in color and finding his soulmate was his only hope.

The summer after he graduated from high school, Sonny said goodbye to his parents and took off on his world tour. After a year of mountain climbing, living in hostels, and being a nomad, Sonny settled himself in San Francisco. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

It was at a rooftop garden party that he met Paul. When their eyes met across the crowd of baseball players, actors, and other famous people, Sonny thought that was it. His heart sped up and his palms sweat at his sides, as he wondered if he was finally going to see the world in color.

Although his heart sank with mild disappointment when Paul’s first words to him were “Hey, I’m Paul,” Sonny spent the entire night talking to the pitcher. Later, when they kissed in the hallway outside of Paul’s apartment, Sonny knew he had made the right decision to find love rather than his soulmate.

It was a tumultuous year, hiding in hotel rooms, but Sonny loved Paul with all his heart. He knew in his soul that it wasn’t the same kind of love he would - could - have with his soulmate; for one thing, his world was still remotely black and white. For another, he and Paul weren’t really friends. If he’d learned one thing from observing couples he knew were soulmates, it was that they were friends first and foremost, and lovers second built on the foundation of their friendship.

Yet Sonny couldn’t help but imagine a future with Paul. He dreamed nightly of a wedding, of children, of a white picket fence and a dog. When he proposed to Paul on a whim one night while they were wrapped up together in bed, all childish dreams of his soulmate vanished. He’d found peace and happiness and in that moment, seeing colors didn’t matter to him. 

But when Paul turned him down, gently but firmly, reality crashed over him. His heart cracked, and his childhood insecurities about never finding his soulmate came rushing back. He understood why relationships were better with soulmates; you were tied together in friendship, in love, in your soul. Soulmates fit together in every sense of the word; even when they broke apart they didn’t _break_ , not in the way he and Paul had just broken each other. 

It took all of Sonny’s courage to walk away after that, his heart shattered as it was. The next day, Sonny got on a plane to Salem, Illinois to visit his parents.

* * *

Sonny stepped out of the Salem airport, a spirit in his step despite his still-broken heart. Although he hadn’t grown up in the town, he had visited multiple times over the years with his family, so he knew his way from the airport to the Kiriakis mansion.

Turning towards the pier, Sonny admired how the town was simultaneously both intimate but not small enough where everyone knew everybody else. He’d spent a year traveling between villages of no more than a hundred people and cities full of thousands of people. Salem was a wonderful blend of both. Sonny thought he might decide to stay for a while, after all.

He was halfway across the pier when he heard a scream.

Sonny turned around to see his cousin Abigail rushing at him from across the pier. 

“Why didn’t you tell you were in town, squirt?” she said, throwing her arms around his neck.

Sonny caught her, a laugh pushing out of his chest. 

“I literally just got back five minutes ago.”

“Yeah. Well, you should have told me. You know how much I love you,” Abigail reprimanded him, but with a smile on his face.

“Abigail, hi,” a voice said, pulling Sonny and Abigail’s attention from each other.

A boy about his own age was standing in front of them, looking confused and…angry? Sonny’s eyes roved over the stranger. He had light hair and light eyes, as much as Sonny could tell in a black-and-white world, for the tones of the boxes on the boy’s shirt were darker than both. 

“Will, hi,” Abigail said, with a smile. “This is Sonny.”

“Yeah. Um,” the boy - Will - said. 

It wasn’t the first time those words had been the first words someone had said to him, but Sonny’s heart skipped a beat nevertheless, his never-ending hope that this boy would be _the_ boy who would turn his world into color.

Abigail snorted out a laugh. “Sonny is my cousin, too. His parents are my Uncle Justin and Aunt Adrienne.”

Realization dawned in Will’s eyes, and Sonny couldn’t help but think how cute his astonished face was. “I - I thought your name was Jackson?”

Sonny realized with a start that Will was talking to him. “Oh. It is, but there were just so many Jacks in my class and my family, people started calling me Sonny. My parents hate it though.” 

Will ducked his head and ran his hand over his eyes in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, man. It’s nice to meet you.” 

Will held his hand out. Sonny shook it and said, “What was that attitude about?”

Will chuckled nervously and Sonny’s heart flip-flopped in his chest.

“Listen, I have to go but can we meet up later?” Will asked.

Sonny nodded, his stomach fluttering with butterflies against his will, and watched Will walk away from where he had come, a smile on his face.

* * *

The more time Sonny spent with Will the more Sonny’s old dreams of soulmates  haunted him. He simultaneously imagined living in a colorful world with Will but worried that Will was not his soulmate. 

He knew the stories, knew the legends, knew how it worked, and wondered occasionally if Will was his soulmate, but just wasn’t ready to love him back yet.  And as he sat by and watched Will struggle with his sexuality, cling tighter and tighter to Gabi before finally pushing her away, Sonny began wishing more than anything that Will would be the one to color his world. 

* * *

The night in March when Will came to the coffee house to tell Sonny he was gay was the night Sonny threw caution to the wind and began hoping in earnest that Will was his soulmate.

* * *

The months following Will’s coming out were torture for Sonny. He was hopelessly besotted with Will, and everywhere he went he imagined that the world around him was a little less black and white and a little more colorful, only for the flash of perceived color to pass. It was frustrating, but there was a part of him that believed that maybe he wasn’t imagining the colors after all, that that’s how it worked: the world got a little bit less black and white as your soulmate gradually began to understand their feelings for you.

* * *

One morning the week after the explosion, Sonny stayed in bed longer than usual. His sleep had been restless over the last few days, his mind replaying over and over his stupid decision to kiss Will, and Will’s horror-struck face afterwards. The argument they’d had immediately after Will had pushed him away echoed in Sonny’s head and still his world remained resolutely black and white.

Sonny had not spoken to Will in the week since the explosion and their kiss - or rather, Will had not spoken to Sonny. Sonny had left Will text messages and voicemails of apologies, but they had all gone unanswered; more than anything Sonny missed his friend, hating himself for having ruined one of the best things in his life.

Sonny sighed and opened his eyes. He blinked. The painting on the wall across from his bed was most definitely not black and white as it had been the night before. It was a mixture of light shades of blue and red and green. 

Sonny sat bolt upright in bed and blinked again. His heart sank in disappointment; the painting was black and white again. Sonny sighed again and rubbed his hands over his eyes. 

His body, mind, and heart all exhausted, Sonny nevertheless swung his legs out of bed and forced himself into the shower.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Later, Sonny was making mocha lattes and cappuccinos for customers when he turned around and found Will sitting at the counter. 

“Will.” 

“Hi,” Will said breathily, his face splitting into a huge grin.

“How - how have you been?” Sonny asked tentatively.

“I’m good. I’m good,” Will said. He was still grinning. After a beat, Will asked, “How did your date with Brian go?”

Sonny groaned and walked away to given his other customers their coffees. After a minute, Sonny returned. “It, uh, I wasn’t really feeling it. So no love life for me.”

Sonny’s lips twitched up into a tiny smile. 

“Well….I think you and I don’t have a love life for the same reason,” Will said.

The words were barely out of Will’s mouth before the coffee house suddenly burst into color. Sonny blinked rapidly but this time the color remained. He gasped, his eyes going wide.

Sonny stared across the counter at Will, who was grinning ear-to-ear. He looked stunning in color - his hair was, at this moment, sandy blonde and his blue eyes sparkled brightly as he watched Sonny.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Will asked, his words echoing ones Adrienne had spoken to Sonny so long ago.

Sonny gaped at him.

“My world’s been in color since we met on the pier,” Will clarified and held out his wrist out to Sonny. 

 _Oh, it is._ was etched into the skin just underneath Will’s watch. 

“I’m sorry it took me so long. I’m sorry I freaked out when you kissed me,” Will said quietly, his smile shrinking somewhat but still present.

Without saying anything, Sonny hurried around the counter and pounced on Will, grabbing the front of Will’s shirt and slamming their mouths together. Will huffed out a laugh against Sonny’s lips and wrapped his arms around Sonny’s neck, kissing back enthusiastically, their hearts and souls finally united.


End file.
